Saving the World, a mattress at a time

picture via pinterest

In our family, there a lots of decisions we make on a daily basis that are controlled by our desire to be environmentally friendly. Our most recent BIG decision to make regarding our environmental concerns: mattress shopping. I know, “Really? That’s your BIG decision? Can’t you come up with something a little more impact, a little more worldly? Saving the whales, the dolphins, the plankton?” Yeah, but seriously this IS an impacting, worldly, BIG decision. Let’s face it, first & foremost it’s big to us because of the cost of a mattress.

Living within our means, means we use a budget and we just don’t have a line item for “Save the World, Buy An All Organic Mattress”. We wanted to use our JCPenney credit card so we could spend a little more but not have it come out of one paycheck. Unfortunately, no one except JCP accepts that credit card! And, when looking at JCP products we realized that their idea of “environmentally friendly” and ours just don’t jive. (But ohhhhh how that “red tag clearance” beckons…)

We were way past due for a new mattress. On Friday night, the husband said, “let’s go get a mattress tomorrow. I mean, really…we NEED a new mattress and we can get one on sale at JCP” (*side note: this is not meant to be neither a JCP commercial nor a JCP bashing. It just happens that is the only retail credit card we have, as we strive to live on cash more than credit.)

At first I was excited about this proposal – a new mattress, yeah baby! Then, Saturday morning I started thinking “what IS a mattress made from?” I remember I had read several years ago about all the toxins in the manufacturing process of mattresses. At the time, I think I just thought, as I have so often about all things that I want, “those toxins won’t affect us”. (that’s my way of taking the quick & easy route & getting what I want, when I want it, environment/health/well-being be damned.)

Now, I’m realizing that every single purchase, every single decision I make CAN make a difference. Not that I’m just now realizing that, but I’m starting to take responsibility for those decisions. (Eek…”responsibility” such a grown-up word. And, sometimes I just HATE being a grown-up!)

The fact remains, I am a grown-up. And not only that, I’m a parent. And, add to that I’m a member of a community, living in the luxury of making my own decisions and choices. And, it’s with those choices that I have to reel back in my humanly desire to take care of me first and make those grown-up decisions that DO impact our environment, our world. And, so off we go to research for that BIG decision. I googled environmentally friendly mattresses and 423,000 results came up. Oh, boy.